Zefira, Bracha

(936 words)

Bracha Zefira (ca. 1911–1990) was was born into a family of immigrants from Yemen who settled in Jerusalem in 1887 Orphaned at the age of three, she was adopted by Jerusalemite families of different ethnic backgrounds. This early multi-ethnic experience made an imprint on her career, as she acknowledged in a 1962 interview: “Since I was three years old, I wandered from home to home. . . . when a child is born without mother and father, without a home . . . he starts to cling to something that can strengthen…